Ideally I would have liked to find these Melitta coffee filters with their matching coffee pots, but I’ve only ever sold a few complete sets, so I don’t think they’re too common. Luckily though it’s a nice simple design so these ceramic ‘filters’ should easily fit on top of other coffee pots. I’ve called them filters for lack of a better name, but in reality you still need a paper filter to fit on the inside of the ceramic, so I suppose a better name would probably be ‘filter holder’? The idea is that you pop the filter (ceramic with paper inside) on top of a coffee pot or cup (depending on the size of your filter), pour your grinds inside, fill the filter with hot water, and let the coffee drip through – it’s as simple as that!

Click here to watch a video of a someone’s who’s perfected the art of the Melitta pour over method – it obviously doesn’t need to be this obsessive, but if you’re seriously into your coffee this might interest you…..

P.S. Having finished writing this blog post I’ve just discovered that these filters are in fact called ‘brewing cones’!

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Someone commented the other day how crazy it is that I love coffee pots so much when I can’t stand the taste of coffee (it really does taste like medicine to me!), which I suppose is a bit strange because I definitely do have a bit of a weakness for them! And I’m particularly fond of the slightly more decorative versions of these industrial-style moka pots – don’t you just love the pop of colour on this pair? The orange Stillnova coffee pot is in great nick, with a brand new seal and gasket (for some reason it was missing its seal so I bought a new one), and the enamelled inside of the pot looks like it’s barely been used. On the other hand the blue Pezzetti moka pot is a bit worse for wear, with some scratches to the paintwork and a seal which looks like it could do with being replaced at some point, although I think it’s probably good for the time being.

A top quality pair of coffee pots that will not only look fantastic sitting on top of your stove, but should do a great job of brewing you a nice strong cup of Joe!

Dimensions: Each moka pot measures 16cm tall x 8cm in diameter

Price: Orange Stilnova moka pot – R230; Blue Pezzetti moka pot – R160

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It may be made out of plastic, but I’ve always loved the style of this retro General Electric ‘Poly-Brew’ percolator! The shape is so retro, as is the pattern that’s etched into the front of the coffee machine. The inside of the pot is stained from years of use, and there’s a scratch on the handle, but on the whole it’s still a fine looking coffee pot in good working order!

Dimensions: 26cm tall x 13cm in diameter

Price: R150

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Two tips when buying a used moka pot: only buy Italian made pots, and make sure that the rubber seal still has a bit of bounce left in it – if the seal is hard to the touch it’s likely to fall to pieces the next time you wash it! Luckily both of these little moka pots tick all the boxes! As with all of these industrial-style moka pots, the metal could do with being a bit shinier, the logo on the Bialetti coffee pot is half worn away, and the one handle looks like it was left on the stove too long, but the important thing is that they’ll work just fine! Which when it comes to getting your daily dose of caffeine, is probably what counts the most!

Dimensions: Each moka pot measures 16cm tall x 8cm in diameter

Price: R125 each

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This Moulinex coffee maker is probably one of the coolest filter coffee machines that I’ve ever come across! Aside from the fact that it’s so good looking (isn’t it just so handsome?!), it’s also super smart! The machine is programmable so you can set the time that you want your coffee made every day – if only we could do this with Justin’s coffee machine, I wouldn’t have to get out of bed every morning to turn it on!

Sadly there’s a crack long the red plastic, and the spot where the coffee pot sits is a bit worn, but the machine still works perfectly well (including the timer function), and for its age I don’t think it’s doing too badly! It even has its orignal tea filter, so if you’re not a fan of caffeine you can use the machine to wake you up with a nice fresh pot of rooibos!

Dimensions: 34cm long x 17cm wide x 27cm tall

Price: R320

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I love the fact that this Italian moka has its original box and pamphlets (I love the style of the pamphlets!), and that for the most part it’s in excellent condition! Bizarrely, despite the fact that it’s in such good nick there’s a bit of damage to the handle – it looks like it’s somehow been melted? But luckily the damage’s not too bad, and other than that it really is very clean.

An attractive and great quality coffee pot at a fraction of the cost of a new moka pot.

Dimensions: 16cm tall x 9cm in diameter

Price: R240

Note: Mint puts up four new items every weekday. The first post goes up at 07h00, the second at 08h00 and the third and fourth at 08h30. You can subscribe to our daily email which goes out at around 09h00 by clicking on the pink envelope on the right hand side of the blog(more…)